Despised and Disagreeable

16-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Thursday, May 11, 1911: It is quite unnecessary to state what I did today, nor would it prove a bit interesting for it is just the same hum-drum duties that we pass through every day. Ruth told me this evening that it was no wonder that everybody despised me, I was so disagreeable.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

What caused Grandma’s sister Ruth to tell her that she was disagreeable and that everyone despised her? I’m sure Grandma said something very annoying or maybe even nasty—but from the entry it’s also obvious that Ruth’s retort hurt and that Grandma worried about what others thought of her.